linkies birthday

last weekend was pretty busy for us. the kids were invited to two easter parties on saturday then we went to the american west heritage center for baby animal days. the next day, easter sunday, was lincoln's birthday then after his birthday/easter dinner we went to my parents house for an easter family home evening with all my siblings. it was a great weekend.

here are pictures from lincoln's birthday:

"happy birthday dear linkies . . ."

his very first taste of cake.

he decided it was good and he just went for it like none of our other kids did.

"yummy tastey. can i have more?"

"wait, i don't have frosting on the top of my head yet."

"that's better."

"i can't believe i survived one year! wahoo!"

we went to my parents house to open gifts. but as you can see lincoln wasn't much interested in gifts. every picture i have of him "opening" gifts is of the back of his head as he is heading elsewhere. maria and hudson opened all of the gifts. he got a couple outfits from grandma and grandpa and two sleepers from us.

we are all so glad to have lincoln in our home. he is such a funny and lovable baby. he does things all the time that make me laugh and he is almost always ready to laugh and wrestle.

happy birthday linkies!

baby animal days

here are more pictures of when we went to the american west heritage center the saturday before easter. they were still doing "baby animal days" so the kids got to see many cute little things.

they enjoyed petting the calves and goats. the especially loved running through the big barn.

(don't know who the extra kid is)

they loved the pony ride and the train ride. the awhc has built a tunnel for the train since we were there last. that was very exciting for the children.

they got to hold bunnies and see baby turtles, ducks and chicks.

they were particularly excited about getting their faces painted. it was so cute to see libby hold so still while her cheek was being painted.

ethan and the kids got a chance to carve wood and the blacksmith's shop was interesting to everyone.

our new house!

we are so excited to show everyone pictures of our new house!

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it's kind of small . . .

and there's only one bathroom . . .

but the views are spectacular!

okay, so we're just kidding (but those of you who know ethan well were probably a little worried - he would totally do this), but we did visit the American West Heritage Center on saturday (or as hudson calls it, "the wild west").

almost there . . .

it's been so raining and gloomy it hasn't felt much like spring. however, we will know spring is in full swing when the apricot tree blooms. it's running late and we anxiously await the arrival of these blossoms.

linkies is 1!

i can't believe lincoln turns one year old today! as you can see he is quite a happy kid.

awww, what a cutie. more birthday pictures coming soon.

digging

libby loves digging. she's always outside, always digging.

and it doesn't matter if it's snowing. she's still digging.

even in her jammies.

other random pictures:

i personally would not be comfortable writing this way, but who am i to judge?

i love seeing her so focused on something. we were writing in our journals.

hudson's snowman.

i don't even know what to say.

sunny days

are here again! and the kids are soaking up every drop of sunshine they can. it is raining most days, but when the sun shines our kids are out all day. i'm not sure libby remembers last summer so i think she especially loves wandering around the yard.

digging wherever she can . . .

here is a picture of the spools ethan rolled into our yard. a company around the corner from us was giving them away so ethan took the opportunity to snag a few for the kids to play on. it made me laugh to see him rolling that down the street.

here we are enjoying the first really warm day this spring. we loved it! we were outside the whole day!

lincoln loved being outside too. this was his first opportunity to crawl around outside. he made a face the first time he touched the grass but he wasn't going to let it stop him. he tried to crawl all around the lawn.

and that's my huddy.

i love when little toddlers dress themselves!

my cute little cowgirl.

and my cowboy.

every cowboy needs a trusty sword.